Rainy Monday
This morning in the early hours as we lay snuggled down in our warm and cozy berths, we heard the rain begin to fall on the hatches and deck. I love that sound. I pulled the covers closer around my shoulders, shifted closer to Danny and fell back asleep. I awoke again around 8am, surprised I’d slept so long, and the rain was still falling.
The usual morning routine began with school, breakfast and chores, and Danny prepared a few last minute things for his trip. I made sourdough pancakes, and the rain continued. We called the restaurant on White House Beach and inquired about taxi’s, and they told us they’d arrange for a taxi to pick Danny up at 2pm. We read, talked planned, organized, made lunch and chatted some more all while we kept a watch on the clock on Danny’s computer, and the rain never let up once. The sky was grey as far as we could see – the only change in color being a few fluffy white clouds against the grey.
Danny suddenly realized that his computer was an hour behind and that his taxi was arriving in half an hour, so we packed his bag, got him all ready to go, he hugged and kissed the creatures, and Jude and I took him to the dock in the dinghy, bracing ourselves against the rain as it stung our skin. We are going to miss him and hope this trip doesn’t take 3 or 4 times the length it should like the last one did. We all love Danny so much.
I love the way color intensifies when it’s raining. Greens become greener, rock that usually looks pale and dry becomes alive with rich colors and texture, and the thick smells of life and growing fills the air. Gosh, we live in a beautiful world!
When we’d said our goodbyes to Danny and returned to Tanda Malaika, I stood as Jude neared the stern so I could leap onto the sugar scoop and tie up the dinghy, but my leap became a slide on the wet deck, and I just kept going…all the way back into the ocean. My rained on shorts, t-shirt and raincoat was now immersed with me in the warmth of the Caribbean, and Jude was laughing so hard I thought for a minute she was going to fall out of the dinghy. The air was a freezing 72 degrees, so the 85 degree water felt so good, and if I wasn’t so weighted down by my soaked clothing, I might have stayed longer. By the time I swam the dinghy and myself back to the boat, the other three creatures were on deck laughing at me too. I climbed up and Aidan lifted the hood on my jacket, which was now a small swimming pool, and dumped it out.
The remainder of the rainy day was spent working on art projects and watching movies. It has continued to rain on and off through the evening, and a few more days of rain is expected. The sunset tonight was once again so beautiful.
We have about 19 days until we need to be in San Blas, which is a little over 1200 nm away, so tonight I wrote out a tentative schedule for us to follow to reach there in time. The creatures and I will most likely leave tomorrow evening for our next destination. A friend of mine told me about a Batik factory here on St Kitts, and since I’ve always been fascinated by the process, we are hoping to check it out before leaving tomorrow.
For those that have been following us for a while, you know we love to do humanitarian work. We have found out that in San Blas, some of the things that are desperately needed, are reading glasses (the dollar store has some for sale), school supplies and toiletries – especially tooth brushes. If anyone has any extra of these items they’d like to donate, please let me know. My friend, ZoAnn, and her family will be joining us from Idaho, and your donations can be sent to her so they can bring them with them. They leave on December 17th.
Until tomorrow, we’ll be staying dry, keeping warm and resting up for yet another beautiful day of life. Hopefully Danny will rest well tonight and be ready to fly the 737 to Venezuela in the morning, and more importantly we hope he and the rest of the 11 creatures feel our love for them across the waves.
Adventures of a Tribe 